Captain Meyers's Last Stand
by ApacheTheWriter
Summary: This story tells the tale of Captain Meyers and the UNSC Atlanta in the struggle to defend a planet from a covenant armada.


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>Captain Meyers sat in the large padded chair, colloquially known as the "hot seat" on the bridge of the UNSC Atlanta, a Paris-class Heavy frigate. He studied the medium-sized screen in front of him. It displayed the status of Battlegroup Beta, of the Cerenhardi defense fleet. The cruisers Berlin, Macedon, and Trotsky, The destroyers Seneca, Detroit, and Bengal, and Frigates Mojave and San Antonio all held position above Planet Cerenhardi.<p>

"Fleet Status green, Captain" reported the COM officer.

"Right. NAV, Show me the feed from the long range probe again." Said Meyers.

The feed came up on one of the secondary screens. Nothing but the blackness of space.

Then there was a distortion. Very small but noticeable. "Magnify that feed."

The picture magnified. It showed a ball of blue lightning, crackling, and growing larger.  
>"Cherenkov radiation.." Muttered Meyers. A few men on the bridge swore. They knew what this meant.<p>

"COM, Sound the alert. Seal all bulkheads, get all Nonessential personnel to assigned stations. Warm up the MAC, remove launch safeties from Archer pods A Through F, and boost the reactor to 70%" ordered Meyers. The slip-space portal on screen opened wide, and ships Ranging from SDV-class Corvettes to CCS-Class Battlecruisers poured out. By the time the portal closed, he counted 35 ships. They moved at flank speed towards Cerenhardi and the Defense Fleet. "Move us into position. Status on the MAC?"

"45 percent, sir." Responded the weapons officer.

"Incoming transmission from UNSC Macedon. It's Admiral Stevenson" Said the COM officer.

"Patch him through"

"All ships, Move into standard defense formations. Covenant are here in force. Give the ODP's a wide berth, we're gonna take out as many of these bastards from a distance as we can! Once they get in close, We will use coordinated firing solutions to effectively drop their shields. Once we have the main force broken, break and attack. Good hunting, people. Stevenson Out."

"You heard him. Get us into position and let's watch the fireworks."

As the covenant fleet came into visual range, several bright flashes of light streaked past the Atlanta towards the Covenant Fleet. They hit their mark, sending three CCS battlecruisers tumbling out of control. The Covenant Fleet accelerated. A few more battlecruisers and two destroyers were hit and destroyed before the signal from the Macedon was given.

"Alright, break and attack! If that MAC is charged, get me a firing solution on the nearest ship. Fire and then maneuver away. Divert all power to engines and recharging the gun. Once it's charged, fire again, and then launch all Missiles. Time the impacts right after the MAC impact. Clear?"

"Yes, sir" said the entire bridge. On screen, the rest of the fleet also accelerated towards the enemy. MAC cannons flashed as they sent slugs flying towards the enemy fleet. The enemy responded with plasma torpedoes. "Any targeting us?" Asked Meyers. "Negative, they're going for the cruisers and carriers first"

The plasma impacted on the large ships. The Berlin took a torpedo to the center amidships. Atmosphere vented from the large hole as the ship rolled out of control, thrusters flashing.

"Move to cover the Berlin" Ordered Meyers. The Atlanta shuddered as it spat a thunderbolt of Lead from the MAC cannon at the Destroyer pursuing the Berlin. The sheilds on the destroyer flickered at the impact, then shattered when hit by another MAC round from another ship.  
>"Lock Archer Pods A through F, target their bridge and weapons!" Ordered Meyers. A swarm of high yield missiles erupted from the Atlanta and swarmed towards the exposed Destroyer. Pulse lasers picked off a few missiles, but most found their target, blanketing the covenant ship with fire. "Status?"<p>

"Several plasma cannons destroyed, hull breaches to their lower decks, and significant damage to the bridge, sir!"

The covenant destroyer limped off. The Berlin had begun to regain control and it also moved off. A refit station on the far side of the planet would repair the damage.

"Weapons, what's our status?"

"Archer Pods A through F depleted. MAC charging at 35 percent. 3 shivas remaining. 95 percent ammunition for the Point defense."

"Alright. Target a covenant ship with it's shields down. We'll help finish it off while the MAC charges" ordered Meyers.

The San Antonio took a plasma torpedo to the starboard armor. The plasma melted through the armor like butter until it reached the reactor. The ship erupted into a ball of nuclear fire.

"Any lifepods outbound from San Antonio?" Asked Meyers.

"Negative, sir, they had no time..."

"Tag the ship that shot that torpedo."

"Yes, sir. Analyzing radiation particle trail. Origin is a CCS class battlecruiser. Moderate damage, shields up."

"We'll never take a Battlecruiser by ourselves. Open a channel to the Seneca."

"Opening channel, captain."

The bridge of the Seneca came up on screen. Smoke erupted from several consoles and one man lay on the ground, being tended by medics.  
>"Yes, Meyers, what do you need? As you can see, i'm fairly occupied at the moment." Said the captain.<p>

"We've tagged A CCS with moderate damage. Shields are up. We're requesting assistance. You drop the shields, and we'll put a hole through their bridge. Then, we'll put a shiva into the crater." Said Meyers.

"Affirmative. Our guns have 85 percent charge. We'll divert power to charge them and fire them once we're ready.." He conferred with his AI.  
>"Eta two minutes."<p>

The battlecruiser turned and set a course for a UNSC carrier busy with another cruiser. It stopped suddenly when two hypersonic slugs from the Seneca. The shields broke and the ship angrily began charging weapons. A MAC round from another Frigate put a hole through the center and the Atlanta put another through the area where the bridge was supposed to be. Three of the seven plasma launchers flickered out. The other 4 fired. "Release the Shiva." Ordered Meyers. The large nuclear missile streaked towards the covenant ship and directly into the large hole. There was a bright flash and the covenant ship erupted into a ball of flames. The Bridge crew let out a cheer. But elsewhere, the battle was not going well. 15 UNSC cruisers, destroyers, and frigates drifted lifelessly in the vacuum of space, gored by plasma torpedoes and energy projectors. Only 8 covenant craft had been taken out so far. Meyers was shaken out of his thought by a sizzling, followed by the sound of explosive decompression.

"Covenant destroyer targeting us, sir! Pulse laser impacts on decks one through six. Hull breaches on two and five! Armor is at thirty percent!" Shouted the OPS officer.

"Range?" Demanded Meyers.

"Five kilometers, sir!"

"Right. What's the status of the MAC gun?"

"Forty percent charge, sir"

"Get me another firing solut-"

More sizzling and thumping.

"More pulse laser impacts! Armor at fifteen percent! We just lost external cameras A and G!"

Meyers knew he needed a distraction- fast. He had to get the ship pointing at the enemy and release a MAC round before the covenant had a chance to fire a plasma torpedo- he knew the Atlanta wouldn't be able to stand up to an attack like that.

"Lock Archer pods F through I on that ship and fire! We need time to charge the MAC."

The hundreds of missiles flew from the missile pods and towards the covenant ship. The ship did not bother shooting them down- the shields were up anyway.

"Fire chemical thrusters! Get us pointing at that ship!"

A bang resonated through the hull as the emergency thrusters fired. The ship rotated and stabilized, now pointing at the enemy. "Weapons! Status?" "Eighty five percent!"

"Kill power in all decks except for the bridge! Get that damn gun charged!"

"Charging at 3 percent per second now, sir!"

The covenant ship turned it's side towards the Atlanta. A deathly red glow of energy began boiling on it's side.

"Status?!"

"Ninety six percent!"

The ball of energy on the covenant ship grew larger.

"One hundred! MAC ready to fire, sir!"

"Do it!"

The lights on the bridge dimmed and the ship shuddered as the MAC round shot towards the covenant ship. At the same time, the ship released the deadly plasma ball.

"Full thrusters! Get us out of here!"

The Atlanta accelerated, and the ball of plasma changed course to follow.

The MAC round streaked towards the covenant ship, hitting it on the nose. It did not break the sheild.

The plasma was rapidly gaining on the Atlanta.

"We can't avoid it sir!"

"Sound collision alarm! Get everyone on Oxygen packs and vent atmosphere!"

The atmosphere vented from the Atlantis as the Plasma struck it in the port armor. A massive shock went through the ship and everyone standing on the bridge was knocked to the ground. "OPS! Report!" Screamed Meyers, a bloody gash leaking blood into his eyes.

"Plasma impact to the port armor! Jesus, it already took out all the armor! Port engine destroyed! Sir, it's getting close to the reactor!"

"Sound evacuation notice! Get everyone to the lifepods!"

The ops officer flipped the switch and a warning klaxon resonated through the ship.

"Alright! All of you, get out of here!"  
>The ops officer released the bridge bulkhead.<br>Meyers waited until the bridge crew cleared out and had a look at the ops console. Three minutes until fires reached the reactor core. He hurried to NAV and plotted a hasty collision course with the destroyer. Then he too sprinted from the bridge.

Meyers ran through the smoke filled corridors to the hangar bay. One pelican remaining. He got in. No time for a preflight. He started the engines and lifted off. As he shot from the hangar bay, the Atlanta exploded into a ball of fire. The rear end of the ship, housing the reactor, was reduced to titanium A particles. The front "prongs" of the frigate drifted lazily away, occasionally flashing with a secondary explosion. The Covenant destroyer he had set a course for was nowhere to be seen. The expression on Meyers's face was stoic as he cut the pelican's power, looked up and observed the battle raging around him. Only a third of the fleet remained. The Detroit took an energy projector through the midsection. The carrier Endenberg was gutted, it's engines flashing randomly. Even the Flagship, the Macedon, was  
>Drifting lazily, her entire foredeck on fire. The ODPs were destroyed. Only two destroyers remained of the fleet and they accelerated hastily away, transitioning into slipspace. The covenant ships picked through the wreckage, occasional pulse lasers destroying pelicans and lifepods. Meyers wondered how many of his crew had gotten to the lifeboats. The hangar, normally stocked with five pelicans, had only the one when he had gotten there. He wasn't going to sit and wait to be picked off. He ran a scan of any nuclear ordinance in the wreckage, and tagged an intact shiva warhead. He powered up the pelican, and maneuvered towards the missile. He sealed the pilot cabin and opened the back hatch, letting the missile drift in. He closed the hatch and pressurized the cabin. Then he went into the back. The missile was only slightly scorched. He linked the missile's computer systems to the pelican. He got back into the cabin and gave the engines a short burst towards the covenant before cutting them, letting inertia carry him forward. The covenant had arrogantly dropped their shields, believing their foe destroyed. Meyers grinned. Time to prove them wrong. He pushed the detonate button. And then everything went white.<p>

The end.

Much skill. So literature. Wow.

...Yeah, I need to go outside.


End file.
